WOW!!!

I can't believe I am writing this right now. I thought this whole Africa thing would hit me once I left my house and headed for the airpot, but to be honest, it still hasn't hit me!! But I love it. Love love love it.

After about 30 hours of travel, we finally made it to Accra, the capital of Ghana, on Friday night at about midnight. Proposals already began at the airport. These guys really have something for white people and don't leave us alone! Grabbing our hands,walking alongside us for a long time, and asking us for our numbers.

From the aiprort, 13 of us, with 26 BIG bags of luggage and all our carry-on's, crammed into a 8 passenger vehicle. It was insane. Wow. But, we've discovered that there are no rules on Ghana roads! None whatsoever! For the most part, we take taxis everywhere and flag them down like we're in New York haha, (they often give us their cell number asking us to call them next time we are going somewhere - it's every taxi driver for himself so they compete for business). There are also tro-tro's but these are bigger vehicles and they will pick up people as they get flagged down and drop off people in the most convenient order for the driver, so we never know how long it will take us to get to our destination. People are constantly honking and driving INCREDIBLY unsafely, but...I'm learning to sit back and try to stay calm. Jaimee took her video camera and filmed the driving here, it's a must see. The only rules are: never stop driving, never yield, never shoulder check, drive really fast, honk you horn a lot, drive on whichever side of the road you want, never give pedestrians the right-of-way, and just get to where you're going as fast as you can in any way you can.

There were quite a few backpackers in the hostel we were staying at in Accra so they gave us good tips like where to buy cell phones, good reliable banks, the best way to get around etc. We stayed in Accra until this morning (right now it is 730pm in Ghana). Accra is a very chaotic city, and I don't think I could have spent much more time there. It is very loud, very busy, and incedibly hectic. This morning we got up at 6 (after about 3.5hrs of sleep, ya sleep is lacking BIG time), and took a bus over to Cape Coast. That is where we are now. We had lunch at the restaurant, and then went to the Slave Castles (WOW...such incredible stories and no one should ever have to be treated that way).

The kids here are beautiful. Absolutely beautiful, and they really love us. They really don't have much though, and it's so sad because they all come up to us asking for money and water etc etc.  Everyone here carries things on their head (even while running!) and walk up and down the streets selling things off the bowl/dish/whatever it is that is on their head. As white people, we cannot get away from everyone trying to sell things to us. Whether it be simple things like mentos and bandanas, to bigger things like cell phones and clothing, we are constantly being bombarded while walking though the streets past all the markets. It's hard to say no, but we can't say yes to everyone.

Water is bought and is rarely ever cold. Beer is cheaper though and cold which is wondeful. Some of the places we stay offer breakfast which is so nice, but we've eaten all our other meals in restaurants. I'm thankful for the granola bars and fruit-to-go's that I packed.

It is HOT. We've all come to accept the fact that we can't care what we look like and we will be sweating 24/7, and showering a few times a day, which only helps for the 2 minutes after the shower. And sleeping with mosquitos nets is not too pleasant but we'll get used to it :)

The place we are staying at right now is called the Hans Botel and is sort of a hotel on water. And...get this...there are crocodiles in the water!! It's crazy. I was about 3 feet from one on the land today.

The Ghanaian people are really quite laid back. Just a much different paced life.

Tomorrow we are taking a bus to Kumasi which will be about four hours. We will spend one night there, and then go another 6 hours or so by bus to Tamale where we will settle for 2 weeks. And...hopefully drop off some medical supplies! Our bags are so heavy!

Okay my one hour is up (but is only costing me about 80cents Canadian :)). I should really get going. And I'm being eaten alive by mosquitos and need to put bug spray on. I do NOT want malaria.

So, take care all!! Hope life is treating you all wonderfully.

Love, Lauren

The Story

Since before beginning the Nursing program in 2006, I knew that UBCO offered their fourth year Nursing students an opportunity to go to Ghana. I knew right away that I wanted to take part in that trip, and have been looking forward to it ever since.

And now...

It is almost here. Completely surreal. Wow.

I will be going with 15 other students and one instructor. We will leave Kelowna at 1030am on January 28th and will arrive in Accra on the 29th at 2130 local time. We will spend 2 nights in Accra, and then head over to Cape Coast where we will go to the slave castles and spend one night. We will then spend a night in Kumasi, and then my mini group of four will break off and move along to Tamale. Here we will complete a 2 week practicum in the regional hospital and in the orphanage. We will then go to Gushegu (a rural village) for 2 weeks where we will do a practicum in an outreach clinic and a small modern hospital (furnished by IKEA!). After that we will have a week of our own travels and the specifics of that will be determined later on. We will return to Kelowna on March 16th at 2100.

Thanks for joining me on this crazy, wild, incredibly exciting, and lifechanging adventure. Hope to keep you all posted as often as I can :)

Love, Lauren

P.S. Here's a map! Gushegu isn't on it but it's northeast of Tamale.